Bernie Marcus: Average Family with Children Will Save $2-3K from GOP Tax Cut Bill

Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Job Creators Network and the retired co-founder of The Home Depot, defends the Republican-led Senate’s recently passed tax cut bill from Democrat critics who accuse the bill of having a “reverse Robin Hood” effective of stealing from working and middle class Americans to give to the wealthiest one percent.

Writing in an op-ed in the Hill, Marcus takes particular aim at the criticisms of his “fellow billionaire Tom Steyer.”

In reality, Mr. Steyer’s contention that the tax plan is “absolutely terrible” for working Americans couldn’t be further from the truth. The Senate bill has numerous — and underreported — provisions that offer real relief to working Americans.

The bill doubles the standard deduction to $24,000, meaning that the roughly 25 percent of American families that earn less than this threshold will pay no federal income tax at all. The tens of millions of working-class Americans who earn slightly above it will see their total tax bill significantly reduced as a result.

The Senate bill also kills the 15 percent tax rate that currently kicks in at just $18,650 of taxable family income in favor of an expanded 12 percent rate that covers earned income all the way up to $77,400.

The bill also doubles the child tax credit to $2,000 per child per year. This means the average family with children will save $2,000 to $3,000 dollars a year from this provision alone.